There always has to be a “Big Bad” and for the TMNT it’s Shredder. So how does the Turtle’s foe stack up in minimate form? Read on to find out…

Packaging

The packaging is totally new to minimates, the (dreaded?) blind bag! Blind bags seem to be all the rage with block figures ever since LEGO started their minifigure blind bag series a few years ago. I’m not a big fan of this mindset but anyway to broaden the minimate line has to be a good thing, right? And for the first time since C3 sets we have minimates in Kmart; that is to say if you’re fortunate enough to still have a Kmart store in your area.

The bag is similar size to comic con promos just slightly larger and obviously not clear plastic but completely sealed. You can feel rather easily which type of figures are inside and the stores have been consistent with the order of the figures on the display strip (check the forum for more details). Knowing ahead of time what I was looking for, these packs were easy to spot in the store but honestly they don’t scream minimates (even though it has the Minimate logo and Visit MINIMATES.COM in bold at the bottom of the bag). The packaging for all the TMNT toys are fairly consistent, same logos with similar shots of the four cartoon turtles somewhere on the package. This is not a bad thing as I could see kids easily grab one of these as an impulse buy just because they want some sort of toy that’s Turtles. On the back you can see a frame of control art for each of the figures that may show up in the pack. One slight mis-step as Mutagen Raphael is actually in the LCS sets and not in the Kmart sets.

The Figure

Shredder

So let me get my Shredder hate out of the way first; I never liked the guy. To me he was always the puppet-master that was a letdown in battle: oooh, here comes the big rooftop finale battle with the Turtles and Shredder… ahh, no, he’s going to let his footsoldiers do the work and then get knocked down with two hits and run away, sigh. He’s the Cobra Commander of the TMNT series (I’m sure to get some GI-Joe hate for that); at least Megatron would get in the mix and blast some people before he’d throw Starscream in the line of fire and high tail it out. Hate aside, Shredder has always been associated with the Turtles and Master Splinter’s past along with the story of their mutation. So he is a must have character in the line.

He has an awesome sculpted silver helmet with some nice details. The only issue I have with it is I can’t seem to line the eyeholes correctly, his cape piece keeps pushing it up ever so slightly. Underneath they’ve done a good job with his scared face; I like how the pink continues on top to the back of his head. With the amount of paint application on his head piece some people have had issues so just be mindful so you don’t accidently scratch the details off trying too hard to take his helmet off (stick him in the freezer instead).

His cape has his pointed shoulder pads attached. The pads on his shoulders, shins and cuffs all have similar style blades and make him look rather menacing and are well done. He has some silver detail for his armor on his chest and sides of his legs. The brown details on his arms and feet are not as sharp as we’ve seen with the rest of this line.

He doesn’t come with any weapons as accessories (doesn’t need them with all the hardware on his outfit) but does come with a clear base stand and keychain accessory.

All in all he’s a decent figure, not as good as some of the others in this line but he’s the big bad so you got to have him. Now time for him to run away …..